India, April 30 -- An older person may live for years with diabetes, hypertension, frailty, or organ failure. Medicines are needed on a daily basis, tests are repeated, and hospital visits become more frequent. The disease receives attention, but the suffering often does not. Pain remains poorly controlled, while fear, loneliness, and family exhaustion go largely unaddressed. In far too many cases, the final stage of life is marked by repeated interventions that do little to ease distress.

This reflects a larger failure in how healthcare is understood and delivered. The World Health Organization defines health as physical, mental, and social well-being, not merely the absence of disease. Yet, health systems still focus heavily on disease...